It is becoming increasingly popular to provide for light displays in various objects, including game balls. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,580 discloses an American football style game ball having provision for inserting a “light stick” therein. Light sticks, also referred to as glow sticks, are well known disposable sources of softly glowing light. A light stick is formed of a translucent tube carrying two chemicals that are separated by a barrier. The user of a light stick bends or snaps it to break the barrier so that the chemicals mix and chemically react with one another to produce light for a limited period of time.
The football of the '580 patent has an interior bore formed of a translucent or transparent plastic tube. Each end of the tube has screw threads for receiving a removable cap to provide access to the tube for inserting the light stick after it has been activated, and to retain the light stick in the tube. The remainder of the football is formed of a translucent or transparent material to allow the light produced by the light stick, passing through the tube, to pass through the remainder of the football so that it can be seen by those watching or using the football.
The requirement for a transparent or translucent material for forming the game ball is a significant disadvantage, both because the choice of materials is quite limited and because it is not generally an advantage to be able to see through a game ball. To the contrary, game balls are easier to see and catch when they are opaque.
A response to this problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,316, which discloses another American style football incorporating a number of light sticks. The light sticks are inserted into respective flexible housings, corresponding to the tube in the '580 patent, attached to the exterior surface of the ball.
Though not very practical, battery powered incandescent light sources have also been known for use inside game balls. An example is the “luminous ball” disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,020,484. The game ball in the '484 patent is spherical and, instead of utilizing a translucent or transparent material for transmitting light from the light source through the ball, the ball incorporates a plurality of “passageways” or tubes extending from a cavity in the center of the ball, in the center of which the light source is disposed, through the shell or casing of the ball. The cavity is considerably larger than the light source itself, apparently to provide space for a spring suspension system for supporting the light source in a manner adapted to attenuate shock.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide for improvements in the manner by which light is transmitted from a light emitting game ball.